


Waterbound

by girnyo



Category: Moominvalley (Cartoon 2019), Mumintroll | Moomins Series - Tove Jansson
Genre: Fear of Death, I Guess There's Some, i dunno?? lmao, thas all i have i think.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-11
Updated: 2020-02-11
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:54:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22668133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/girnyo/pseuds/girnyo
Summary: Snufkin loved the sea more than anything. The gentle waves on a sunny day, the crushing tides during a storm and the infinite deepness, filled with creatures that no one has seen, or will ever see.But no matter how much he admired everything the sea portrayed, he was scared of it. He was scared, ever since he was a small mumrik, in a pink and white striped dress, and no matter how he tried to push these feelings down deeper than the seafloor is, they just wouldn't let go. Especially not today.
Relationships: Mumintrollet | Moomintroll & Snusmumriken | Snufkin, also implied snufmin but it's very mild.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 56





	Waterbound

It's a beautiful day for fishing, and Snufkin's fixing the string on his fishing rod. Yesterday, he met a Hemulen sailing down the river, next to his campsite, one who collects fish. He's just arrived after an afternoon out in the sea and showed off his catch, as every Hemulen likes to do so with their collection, and a particular fish caught Snufkin's eyes. A dotted, blue pike, or a moonfish as the Hemulen called it.

Now, he's planning on trying to catch one of them, since Midsummer Eve is coming up and he hasn't got anything as a gift for the big night, yet. He ties the line around the end of the rod and pulls it once or twice, to check its strength.

Satisfied with it, he picks up his can of worms from his tent and heads down to the beach, on the longer path, through the woods. Not for any particular reason, or so he's trying to convince himself, but he knows that he's just hoping for a storm to arrive, before he could get to the shore.

His fishing rod is swinging by his side, and Snufkin counts the steps until the dirt path turns into sand, and he can smell the saltiness in the air. 1, 2, the can of worms swings on the string. 4, 5, Snufkin starts humming his latest spring tune… 6, 7, he's almost at his fishing spot... 8, 9 and he's next to the water.

He looks over the tides; the view both makes him shake from fear and excitement. The wind catches into his hat, almost blowing it off his head, and he has to hold onto it to keep it from escaping. As he sticks a wiggling worm on the hook, he hears footsteps coming from behind him. He doesn't bother to look behind himself, since he already knows who they are, the arguing about whether sea cucumbers can or cannot be eaten is clear and Snufkin holds back a chuckle.

"I'm telling you, they're called cucumbers for a reason!" Sniff argues, gesturing with his hands to prove his point. "No way, I once heard that they're poisonous." Snorkmaiden says, her voice sounding tired, suggesting that this conversation has been going on for longer than she'd like.

"Aren't sea cucumbers like… animals?" Moomin asks, causing an even bigger uproar from the other two. It was only Little My who notices Snufkin sitting near the sealine, "Hey! Look who it is!" The others turn their head towards where Little My is pointing, Moomin being the first to start rushing towards the water, the others following him closely.

"Snufkin!" Moomin says, a little bit louder than needed, plopping down next to Snufkin in the sand. "How are they biting?"

Snufkin glances at Moomintroll and the others, then answers, "Not too great, I'm afraid. The water's awfully silent this afternoon."

"Why don't you join us then? We were planning on taking a quick swim before eating!" Snorkmaiden sits down next to Moomin, then starts to tie her hair up into a bun. She decided to let it grow out, and it has been growing nicely ever since last spring, now it's long enough for her to tie a bun or a ponytail, and she greatly enjoys the new number of hairstyles she can try out.

Snufkin hesitates on the answer, but before he could say anything his rod gets tugged at by something. Little My grabs into it before Snufkin could, saving it from being swallowed by the waves, "Pay better attention to your stick, or you'll never catch anything!" Grumbles Little My, while Snufkin takes the fishing rod from her, before she and the rod both get pulled into the sea.

"Thank you, Little My.” Snufkin says, while he starts to pull the fish, or whatever bit on the hook, out of the water, his hand reeling the line guide. "Looks like I spoke before thinking, maybe the catch isn't that bad today." The something tugs on the line again, and Snufkin has to hold onto the rod harder, "But thanks for the offer."

After a while of Snufkin tiring the fish out, it finally gives in and Snufkin can pull it in to the shore. His eyes bright up when he sees the catch and starts to take the hook out of its mouth, careful not to cut himself. "Ooh, what’s that?" Snorkmaiden asks, while they all group around the bucket where Snufkin put the fish.

"A moonfish," Snufkin answers, his earlier anxiousness gone. "A fisherman told me about them only yesterday." He kneels down, like the others did so he can get a better look at the dotted pattern on its side.

"I’ve never seen a fish like this before." Moomin says, his snout almost reaching into the bucket’s water. "Are they rare?"

"You could say so. All the fisherman told me was that you can only catch them after or before a storm," Snufkin says. He takes another worm from his can and starts to prepare his rod for the next throw.

"Are you going to sell it?" Sniff asks, which makes Little My bicker to herself.

"No," and that was where Snufkin ended the conversation.

After Moomin and Snorkmaiden put on their swimming suits, Snufkin recastes his line several times, but it seems that the only thing that bites are thrown out stockings and empty bottles. Both only make Snufkin frustrated so he decides to say screw it and head towards the others.

They’re not too far in, so they can all see Snufkin heading towards them. "Hey! Did you change your mind?" Moomintroll shouts, but Snufkin doesn’t hear him, or rather doesn't  _ want _ to hear him, so he just sits down, next to the picnic basket. He hugs his knees and rests his head on them, staring out into the sea.

How can one love something and still be so afraid? The sea portrays everything he admires; freedom, adventure, independence. And yet, he can’t make himself go into the water. He sinks deeper into his knees, closes his eyes and listens to the waves and his friends laughter, and imagines that he’s there next to them.

When Snufkin wakes up, the others are eating their sandwiches next to him, and talking in hushed voices. He rubs the sleep out of his eyes and yawns into his elbow, the others noticing him now as well. "Good morning, sleepy head," Little My says, handing him a sandwich filled with jam, "you're becoming just like Joxter."

Snufkin takes the food, but doesn't say anything to My's remark, because he knows she's right. "How did the swimming go?" Snufkin asks, taking a bite from the bread, being careful not to drop the jam on his clothes.

"Great! The water is really nice!" Moomintroll answers, "Why didn't you come in?" Snufkin almost chokes on the crust, but composes himself as quickly as he can. "I was busy with my fishing," he says, since that's the first thing that comes to his mind. Meanwhile, he finishes his food as well and then adds, "But I've already caught what I wanted anyway."

"Awesome! Then you could join us after eating!" Moomin says, and Snufkin immediately regrets ever opening his mouth.

"Shouldn't people stay away from water after eating, though?" Sniff asks, and a sigh of relief escapes Snufkin's mouth. Snorkmaiden is the only one who notices, she glances at Snufkin but he doesn't make eye contact and she believes it must have been her imagination.

"I'll have to head home soon, anyway. I promised Snork I'll be home 'til 8pm!" She looks up at the sky to check the time, then gasps, noticing how late it is.

"Aw, come on!" Little My throws her hands up in the air, sighs, then grabs into Snorkmaiden's hand. "Let's get going then." Snorkmaiden doesn't even flinch, already used to Little My's wild nature. They start running towards the trail, their hair getting tangled up from the strengthening wind.

"Wait up!" Sniff hurries after them, leaving the other 2 alone, with the leftover sandwiches still scattered over the blanket. "Huh…" is all Snufkin can say then he looks at Moomintroll. Moomin's looking at him with excitement written all over his face.

"What?" Snufkin asks, raising one of his eyebrows. "Let's go swimming! It will be just the two of us!" Moomin says, already standing up to ran towards the water. "Come on, Snuf!" He shouts, looking backwards, his feet are already in the shallow water. But when he looks back all he can see is Snufkin standing frozen in place.

_ Snufkin can feel breathing getting harder and harder already. He feels his feet sank and his paws start to tremble as he tries to go after Moomintroll. He so desperately wants to go, he really does, but his fear locks him in place and he can't move anymore. _

"Snufkin?" Moomin's voice snaps him out of his panic, or at least partially. He can still feel his throat tightening and he holds his paws together behind his back, but they're still shaking. "Are you okay?"

Snufkin stares at Moomin, then takes a deep breath and says, as loudly as he can, " _ No. _ " Moomin starts walking towards him and he's about ready to say something, but Snufkin isn't finished yet. "I am…  _ afraid _ ." Snufkin grips his dress and lowers his head, so he doesn't have to keep eye contact. "I'm sorry."

"Oh, Snufkin." Snufkin snaps his head upwards, Moomin standing awfully close to him, his hand reaching out to hold onto his. "Why didn't you say so? I don't want to force you to do anything."

Snufkin holds Moomintroll's hand and he gathers all his courage to say, "That's not what I meant." He looks over Moomintroll's shoulder and continues, "I'd like to swim. Go underwater and see it all for myself. Explore the depths, feel the water touching my face," he gulps, as the sea rises into a bigger wave then crushes down. "But… I can't do this alone. I'm not strong enough."

"You're not alone, though." Snufkin's eyes widen and he jumps a little as Moomintroll hugs him close. He buries his head into Moomin's neck and closes his eyes once again. He listens to the waves crashing into the rocks and Moomin's breath, as he can feel his chest rising and lowering.

They let go of each other after a few seconds, Snufkin brushing away the tears from his eyes with the sleeves of his skirt. They don't say a word, but they intertwine their fingers and turn their faces towards the sea.

The sky is getting darker and the sunset makes the sea look like it's burning red and orange, the light reflects from its surface almost blinding the two.

"1…" Moomintroll starts counting, and stands in a position to start running once he's done counting.

"2…" Now Snufkin joins him as well, kneeling down next to Moomin.

"3!" They both shout in unison, and start running towards the water. The waves are coming towards them and Snufkin holds onto the end of his skirt and Moomintroll’s hand as strongly as he could, afraid that otherwise the water will drag him away for forever.

"Close your eyes if you need to!" Moomintroll yells, "I'll lead you!" And so Snufkin does, shutting his eyes for the third time today, hearing the sound of water once again, now a lot closer than before.

Snufkin hears the waves crashing into each other, and now he can feel then touch his paws as well. It lingers around his feet, and as he and Moomin go in deeper, the water creeps up until his knees, his thigh, until his bust and Snufkin's hearing gets heavier and heavier.

"Deep breaths!" He hears Moomin say and as the water goes up until his chest Snufkin counts his breaths, like how he counted stars when he needed to fall asleep.

_ The waves dance around Snufkin, his knees start shaking as the water lifts him higher. The water's still not over his head, but he can feel the air escaping his lungs and he grabs at his neck, shutting his eyes harder, but his tears still escape. As they drip down his face, he hears them fall into the seawater and Snufkin feels really small in this endless mass of water. _

Then he feels someone tug at his hand, "Hey, is everything okay?" Snufkin opens his eyes and he sees Moomin looking at him with a worried expression. "We can stop if it's too much."

"No! Please..." Snufkin answers, louder than he meant to. The flowing water around him making his ears hurt a little. "I want to do this." Moomin stares at Snufkin for a second and Snufkin suddenly feels awfully embarrassed.

"Alright. Then hold onto me, your feet won't be able to touch the ground from here." Moomintroll says, as he pulls Snufkin closer to himself.

Snufkin hangs onto Moomin as he starts swimming deeper into the water. Snufkin looks around himself and he notices the small fish swimming around them, and he feels kelp touching his paws. He tightens his hug around Moomin, but he suddenly feels calmer, the fact that these little things he appreciates so much are alive out in the water, without being afraid, gives him courage to be like them.

Snufkin takes a deep breath and sneezes from the saltiness of the air. Moomintroll can't hold back his laugh and Snufkin hides his face in his paw. "Can you swim?" Moomin suddenly asks and the safety Snufkin felt before was slowly floating away from him. "No. I've never learned how to do so." He answers, just as Moomin turns back towards the shore. Before Snufkin could ask what's going on, Moomin says, "Next time we come down to the beach, I'm teaching you."

Before Snufkin could protest, he's lifted up by Moomin as they reach the part where Moomin didn't have to swim anymore. Instead of putting Snufkin back into the water, he ends up carrying him until they're out on the shore.

As Moomin places Snufkin down, he feels a raindrop on his snout. As he looks up, more drops start raining down, and before he could say anything, a summer rain shower breaks out.

Without saying anything Snufkin rushes for his fishing equipment, afraid of it being dragged into the rising waves. After checking to see all his stuff is still in place and the moonfish is still swimming around in the bucket, Snufkin headed back to Moomin. 

While Snufkin grabbed his stuff, Moomin put away the leftover food and winded up the plaid they were sitting on.

"Guess the moonfish was right; the storm came." Snufkin says as he runs to help Moomin close the sunshade, which is rather difficult thanks to the wind getting stronger. After they got everything, they started running towards Moominhouse, hoping to get inside as soon as possible.

"Thank you," Snufkin says suddenly. After he had some minutes to think about what to say, he feels the needs to address what happened in the water. "This really meant a lot to me."

"It's nothing," Moomin answers, with a big smile on his face. His fur is already really wet, making it puff out all over his body, which made Snufkin smile as well. "Don't think I forgot about our swimming lessons, either!" Moomin adds, jabbing Snufkin's elbow.

"I'm glad you didn't."

_ Snufkin's sitting in the guestroom of the Moominhouse, and he's staring out the window. He closes his eyes and hears the sound of the raindrops. They remind him of the waves rushing by his ears and the water gripping at his legs, pulling him down. He descends into the deep, dark water, but he is not alone. He's surrounded by kelp, millions of small creatures, moonfish, and Moomintroll floating next to him.  _

**Author's Note:**

> this was made because i listened to waterbound (dirk powell) on repeat for too long. also the song has like. no relation to the fic it's just that much of a bop.


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